Japan, US collaborating on next-generation chips, Nishimura says

Japan’s trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said Japan and the US are working together to make the next generation of semiconductors, while also collaborating with a broad range of Asian nations to strengthen chip supply chains.

“This is something we’re pursuing within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which includes 14 countries from India to Fiji,” Nishimura said in a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Tuesday. “We’re hoping the US and Japan can be at the center of building up supply chains for key materials.”

Nishimura’s comments come as Japan is increasingly caught between the US and China in the world of chip production. The minister largely dodged a question over whether Japan is also going to follow US-led export restrictions that would hinder China’s technological ambitions.

“We understand what the US is trying to do, and are in communication,” Nishimura said in a conversation with Stephanie Flanders, head of economics and government at Bloomberg News, during an NEF panel discussion on challenges confronting the world. “Japan will decide what to do within the existing international framework.” 

Nishimura also said Japan will support US firms’ investment into the country, particularly when it comes to frontier technology. He hoped for the same kind of help from the US when Japanese firms in turn put money into America.

The minister also mentioned during the panel session that Japan will try to use the yen’s current weakness to promote exports. 

“We want smaller firms that haven’t tried this before to make exporting efforts,” he said at the event organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. “The weaker yen also means that it’s much easier to invest in Japan, so we’re trying to push for more investments.”